


Secret Admirer

by viviegirl05



Category: The Flash
Genre: Barry is a troll, Eddie lives!, Flowers, Gifts, Julian is a douche, LoT didn't happen, Multi, OT3, secret admirers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 09:10:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9116767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viviegirl05/pseuds/viviegirl05
Summary: Barry's been getting gifts at the precinct. Thoughtful things- flowers, cookies, cologne, a new mug...the morning after he broke his old one. Who would know that he broke his mug so instantly as to gift him with a new one the very next day?





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at a threesome, so be gentle with me! Feel free to give me your honest thoughts though!

Barry was having an exceptionally good day, especially for a Monday. He had woken up on time feeling refreshed, showered, had time to stop by Jitters for coffee and a muffin, and even managed to show up to work on time. Captain Singh did a double take, glancing back at his watch and looking at Barry in surprise. Joe, who had been talking to Singh, puffed up in pride. Barry had to smother a laugh at the ridiculous reaction as he made his way up to his lab.

He opened the door to the lab with a smile- Julian had the day off so he had the whole lab to himself. He took a deep breath and let out a contented sigh at the blissfully silent and non-judgmental state of the room.

That’s when he noticed the bouquet of white flowers sitting on his desk. He recognized them as gardenias- one of Iris’s favorite flowers. They were beautiful. He leaned over and took a deep breath, soaking up the heavenly scent, before leaning back to admire them. There was a small envelope propped against the vase with “Barry” written in neat handwriting.

Curiously, it wasn’t Iris’s handwriting, from whom Barry had suspected the flowers came.

Brow slightly furrowed, Barry opened the envelope and pulled out the note inside.

_You’re lovely_

It wasn’t signed. Barry flipped over the note; the other side was blank. Huh. Who would have sent him flowers? Well, it wasn’t a bad thing, and the flowers really were beautiful.

He moved the vase to the corner of his desk and started work, putting it from his mind. He couldn’t seem to stop from smiling every time he looked over at them though.

***

The next day Barry arrived to the work only five minutes late, and Singh didn’t yell at him, so he counted it as a win. When he got to his desk he discovered a large, heart-shaped box of chocolates. There was no note this time.

Barry opened the box and ate a few before he shoved the box in a drawer of his desk just in time to avoid having to explain the box to Julian. God only knows how he would react to Barry receiving chocolates from an anonymous gift-giver.

Barry didn’t want to pull the trigger on the secret admirer gun to soon, after all, it had only been two days. And there was no note on the chocolates- they could have been put on his desk by mistake. Not that Barry was going to correct that mistake because chocolates! And the flowers could have been a gag gift or just Caitlin trying to cheer him up or something. Didn’t seem like something Caitlin would do though…

***

Wednesday Barry arrived to a giant teddy bear at least three feet tall with a stuffed heart clutched in his fuzzy paws that read “I love you bear-y much.” It was adorable. For about two seconds. Then Julian provided his unsolicited opinion.

“I didn’t realize you were dating anyone, Allen. No surprise that she has the same bad taste in spontaneous gifts as she does men.”

Barry frowned. “That’s completely uncalled for, Julian. And I think it’s sweet.”

Julian snorted, “of course you do.”

“Can we please just be professional about this? I’ll take it home later and you’ll never have to see it again, so just ignore it for today.” Barry sighed.

“Very well,” Julian replied dismissively.

Rude, judgmental pain in the ass...

Barry was grateful he had taken the flowers home before Julian saw them on Monday. He didn’t want to know what kind of reaction flowers would have gotten.

***

Thursday morning swept in with dark, heavy clouds. Just as Barry was walking in to work the sky opened up and it started to pour. He thanked his lucky stars that he had just managed to avoid the torrential deluge.

He made his way to his lab hastily. There was a vase of multicolor daisies on his desk. Barry’s face lit up when he saw them- they were so lively and cheerful! He couldn’t help but feel happy looking at them. There was a note again this time with the same neat print on it.

_Never lose your innocence._

Interesting comment…

Somehow, by the grace of god, Barry had managed to get to work before Julian- how that had happened Barry would never know, but he would be forever grateful. Every moment he didn’t have to spend with that man was a blessing.

He took the time to admire his flowers for a moment before he moved them off to the side of his desk. He had a rather large pile of paperwork that Julian was pawning off on him, but seeing the flowers out of the corner of his eye made him smile in spite of his horrible officemate.

After a few minutes Julian burst into the lab, dripping wet and looking to be in a thoroughly foul mood. Barry said nothing and kept his head down. Maybe if he didn’t draw attention to himself Julian would just ignore him...

“Seriously, Allen? Rainbow daisies?”

“Problem?” Barry glanced up and quirked an eyebrow at Julian.

“Whatever…” Julian muttered derisively, turning away to find something to dry himself with. Barry returned to his work and ignored Julian’s grumblings, continuing to smile every time he glimpsed the multicolored flowers on his desk.

The day passed drearily, overcast with sporadic rainfall, but Barry remained in a good mood thanks to his secret admirer- he admitted that it was a secret admirer now.

***

Friday came along like any other day, sunny once again as Central City usually was. Barry got to his desk fifteen minutes late, impressing himself that this was the first time this week that he was late. He froze the second he crossed the threshold of the lab.

What.

There was a giant plastic gummy bear shaped container on his desk. Like, at least five pounds. Full of gummy bears. With a bow on top of it.

“What.”

“You really need to teach your girlfriend what an appropriate gift is.” Julian said without looking up from the file he currently had his nose buried in.

Barry glared at him, then he smirked. “Who ever said I had a _girl_ friend?”

“Excuse me?” Julian looked up, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Barry just gave him a butter-wouldn’t-melt smile and opened the first file he saw on his desk, giving the appearance that he was diving into work. True, he didn’t know who was sending him gifts, be it man or woman, but he was bi, so why not ruffle Julian’s feathers a bit?

He knew Julian didn’t have a problem with gay people- at least, he didn’t have a problem with Captain Singh- but he made Barry’s work life hell, so why not mess with him a bit?

“Ok…” Julian murmured, slowly getting back to his work.

Throughout the day, Barry snacked on the gummy bears, and every time he did Julian looked at him with an almost befuddled expression.

Heh.

Looks like Barry’s spontaneous mess-with-Julian plan was working out nicely.

***

The weekend went by fairly uneventfully. He and Cisco grazed on the gummy bears and speculated as to who could be Barry’s secret admirer.

“What about that new CSI, what’s her name? Ashley? Abby?”

“Ava, and she’s engaged, happily, so I doubt it’s her.”

Caitlin lectured them about the dangers of eating so much sugar and refused to get involved with the guesswork the boys were partaking in.

When Barry went home he cuddled up with the teddy bear and fell into an easy sleep. For some reason, the bear smelled like home and a hug. Barry couldn't figure out why, but he loved it nonetheless.

***

Monday was _not_ a good day. He had overslept- sleeping though BOTH his alarms- been forced to speed though his shower before the water had had the chance to warm up, and he had to wait longer than usual in line at Jitters.

When he finally got to work, he was a full thirty minutes late. Captain Singh had lectured him for a solid fifteen minutes before he could escape to the lab. The day might have picked up after that if it weren’t for Julian. Barry dragged his feet up the stairs, trying to stall as long as possible before facing his “roomie.”

“Late as usual, Allen.”

Great. They were starting straightaway. Just what Barry’s day needed.

“Look, Julian, I’ve had a bad morning, and Singh’s already lectured me, so can you not?”

“Allen, it is completely disrespectful and….” Barry tuned out Julian’s rant when he spotted the plate of homemade chocolate chip and M&M cookies on his desk. His favorite. How did his secret admirer know? Right then, he didn’t really care, all that mattered was that the cookies were there, like a ray of sunshine on his crappy morning.

Barry immediately peeled back the Saran Wrap to get at the cookies.

Irritatingly, he was forced to eat at normal, human speed, but the cookie was amazing, so it made up for the slow speed. Chewy, soft, but with just the right amount of crunch and the perfect ratio of chocolate to M&M to cookie. Bliss.

"Are you listening to me?!”

“Of course.”

“What did I just say?”

“Uhhh…”

Luckily, Detective Lee came in just then to ask Barry about a recent homicide, saving Barry from having to answer.

Barry munched on the cookies throughout the day, or, more specifically, every time Julian said something derisive. They were mostly gone by 4pm, but Barry was feeling better about things, so it all evened out.

***

Tuesday morning Barry was greeted by yellow tulips and another note.

_Keep smiling, sunshine._

Whoever this was, maybe they somehow knew about what a horrible day Barry had had the day before? It was possible.

Aside from an apartment fire, which Barry excused as indigestion (which worked surprisingly well with Julian), the day passed without incident.

That night was a different story.

Weather Wizard attacked First National on 7th and Main; Barry stopped him from getting away with any money, but the lobby was unfortunately trashed.

Knowing that Julian would be the one to process the scene, and knowing that the cameras had been knocked out early on, Barry decided to help clean up the scene. He swept shattered glass into neat piles, restacked papers on desks, righted overturned chairs. He even found some cleaner and a rag on a janitor’s cart and cleaned up a few scorch marks from lightning that Mardon had thrown at him.

Julian would have a hell of a time processing the scene tomorrow.

Heh.

Barry flashed away with a grin even as Caitlin chastised him for being mean to Julian. Barry defended himself by reminding her that the Flash would get good PR for helping clean up the scene of a crime. Disappointed as she may have been, Caitlin couldn’t argue with that.

***

Wednesday, Barry found a gift bag on his desk. Julian had been called to a crime scene- the bank Weather Wizard had attacked the night before, and the scene Barry had purposely messed with- so Barry had the lab to himself for at least a couple hours.

Barry removed the tissue paper from the bag to reveal a bottle of cologne. _His_ cologne. How on earth did his secret admirer know what kind of cologne he used?

He spotted the note and opened it hoping that this time it might be signed.

_Thought you could use this. Enjoy._

No signature, as usual.

How did they know he was almost out of cologne? Barry himself hadn’t even noticed until that very morning. With a slight shake of his head, Barry pushed the evidence of his gift into the trash and put the bottle of cologne in his bag.

Weird as it may have been, he still needed cologne. He’d think more about who had sent it later.

After work that night, Barry did his rounds as the Flash while theorizing with Cisco.

“What about Iris? She would know what cologne you use.”

“She’s with Eddie, she’s happy. Why would she be sending me gifts? Besides, it’s not her style. If she’s going to do something, she’s going to be upfront about it.”

“Linda?”

“Nah, she’s dating some doctor…”

“What about Patty?”

“She’s still in Coast City studying to be a CSI. Besides, her Facebook profile says she’s in a relationship with another student.”

“…Felicity?”

“All the way from Star City? Seems a little far-fetched. And anyway, I think she and Oliver are trying to patch things up.”

“Hmmm…”

***

The next morning met Barry with another flower arrangement- camellia’s and white zinnia’s. They were every bit as beautiful as all the other flowers he had received thus far. The note, still in that neat print, read:

_Your perfection and goodness are admirable._

Flattering, but it still didn’t lend any hints as to who Barry’s secret admirer was. A bit odd too. Barry wondered if it had something to do with the meaning behind the flowers.

A quick search on his phone answered that. Camellias: admiration, perfection. White zinnias: goodness.

Barry sat back in his chair as he contemplated his latest note, knocking the mug off the corner of his desk. Unable to use his Flash speed with Julian there, the mug crashed to the ground, shattering into dozens of pieces.

“You’re cleaning that up,” Julian said as he glanced up. Barry sighed, then stood to retrieve a broom and dustpan. Julian was going to be a pain today, Barry could already tell.

***

Friday was another gift bag. Barry opened it to find a new mug, one with the Flash insignia on it. Barry knew they sold them at Jitters, but it was still weird seeing his logo on merchandise, so he hadn’t bought one yet.

A card fell out when he pulled the mug out of the bag. Barry read it quickly.

_Try not to break this one :)_

Ok, what?

How the hell did this person know he had broken his mug yesterday? This was starting to get creepy.

“Looks like your boyfriend is getting better at picking out gifts,” Julian disparaged.

Despite how unsettled Barry was by the note, he still couldn’t resist messing with Julian again.

“What makes you think I have a _boy_ friend?” Julian’s eyes went comically large.

Thankfully Barry was able to hide his chuckle behind the arrival of Detective Williams, who was there to offer Barry a ride to a B&E crime scene that needed processing.

The rest of the day passed in much the same fashion, one crime scene after another. Nothing too challenging though, and spaced conveniently so that he could get the majority of the processing done between calls.

***

The weekend passed in a blur of Flash business, but with nothing significant coming up. It seemed that every mugger, ATM robber, and jewelry thief in Central had decided to make his life difficult, making him run around like crazy until late into the night. Each night when he got home he collapsed into bed and snuggled up with his teddy bear.

***

Monday, Barry arrived to a vase of coral roses. No note, for once. At least Julian knew better than to comment at this point, having been floored by Barry twice.

Curious, Barry decided to try looking up the meaning of the flowers. Coral roses: desire. Whoever this was, they desired him. Barry couldn’t decide if that was flattering or creepy…

That night, Captain Cold and Heatwave showed up at an art gallery exhibiting Van Gogh’s “Starry Night,” on loan from the Met in New York.

“Right on time, Flash!” Cold called out upon his arrival, blasting a ground with ice just as Barry was stepping on it, sending him skidding into a wall.

Getting to his feet, Barry rushed at Cold, only to be pushed back by flames from Heatwaves gun.

“To hot for you, Flash?” Heatwave called.

“Never!” Barry cried, racing around the criminals to the exhibit hall behind them, planting himself firmly in front of the famed painting the thieves were undoubtedly targeting.

Heatwave fired at an adjacent painting, making Barry spin his arms to form a vacuum, leaving the painting barely charred, and likely fixable by a skilled restoration artist. Just as the last of the flames went out, Cold blasted Barry’s feet, freezing him in place.

“You guys run a bit hot and cold, you know that?” Barry asked amusedly.

“Honey, you have no idea how we run,” Cold smirked.

Honey?

Before Barry could dwell too long on the strange use of a pet name, Cold and Heatwave grabbed the painting and made a break for the back entrance. Barry quickly vibrated his feet, freeing himself from the ice and dashing forward, snatching the painting and replacing it on the wall.

Before the Cold or Heatwave could retaliate, the sound of approaching sirens reached their ears.

“Looks like you’re out of time,” Barry grinned.

“Until next time, Flash.” Cold said dramatically, freezing Barry’s feet, and then shins, knees, and the lower parts of his thighs to the floor. With that the villains took their leave.

It took until the police were right at the entrance of the gallery, opening their doors to exit their vehicles for Barry to free himself from the ice. By then the duo were long gone.

***

The next morning revealed another gift bag. Upon opening it, Barry found a wooden box with the words “honey dust” carved in it. What on earth was honey dust?

Barry opened the box to expose some whitish-gold powder. After sticking his finger in the dust cautiously, Barry raised his finger to first sniff, and then taste the powdery substance. Honey. What was the purpose of this?

“What smells like honey?” Julian asked, sniffing the air.

“Honey dust,” Barry said, motioning to the box.

“Hm.” Julian didn’t comment further, though he averted his eyes for some reason. And was he blushing? Must be a trick of the light…

Barry looked into the bag again to find a note.

_One can only imagine how delicious you’d taste after being painted with this._

Oh. So that was what it was for.

 

Barry grabbed Big Belly Burger for lunch with Cisco and Caitlin at STAR Labs. Caitlin took her lunch at her workstation in the medical room, apparently elbow deep in some research project or other.

“DUDE!!!” Cisco said, “They’re totally hot for you!”

“Yeah, I got that Cisco,” Barry responded. “The question is, should I be flattered or creeped out?”

“I don’t know dude, but honey dust? I gotta try that some time!”

“Yeah, well, don’t come to me for any part of that experience!”

They both dissolved into laughter.

***

Barry had the day off Wednesday and spent the day with Cisco and Caitlin at STAR Labs, and therefore didn’t get anything from his secret admirer, who only seemed to leave gifts at his office.

While lounging around the cortex, Barry had a thought to look up the security cameras at the precinct to see who was leaving him gifts. After Cisco hacked the feed, they looked up the previous morning.

Approximately thirty minutes before Barry arrived a delivery man showed up at precinct to drop off a gift bag at the lab.

“Damn,” Cisco muttered. With a few taps to the keys he brought up Monday’s feed. Again, about thirty minutes before Barry’s shift, a delivery man showed up, a vase of flowers in hand this time.

“It’s a different company.” Barry noted.

“That could just be because of the whole flowers-vs-gift-bag thing though…” Cisco responded.

“Look up Friday, that was a gift bag too.”

Upon inspection of the footage, they determined that whoever it was never used the same delivery service.

“What the hell, I didn’t even know there were that many delivery agencies in Central City!” Cisco looked affronted. “Who the hell orchestrates things like this to be completely untraceable!?”

Just then an alert come up on the computer.

“Fire at Pablo’s Mexican Cantina, 57th and Nativity.”

“On it!”

With that they were successfully distracted from thoughts of Barry’s secret admirer.

***

Thursday was Julian’s day off, a blissful day of work in the lab like things used to be, before Flashpoint. Twenty minutes into his pleasant morning, Barry realized he didn’t have a gift on his desk. Almost simultaneously, a delivery man walked into the lab.

“Delivery for Barry Allen.”

“That’s me.” Barry signed for the rather large gift wrapped in shiny red paper with a big gold bow on top.

Barry took it and curiously opened it, finding a pair of running shoes inside. Lifting them from the box, Barry realized that they had the Flash symbol on them. And they were custom made. Custom made Flash running shoes. That someone had gotten for him. Did his secret admirer know he was the Flash?

In the beginnings of a full on panic attack, Barry dropped back into his chair, knocking the box to the ground. A card fell out, writing up.

_Friction proof. Only the best for Central City’s favorite hero._

Oh God.

Oh God.

Oh God.

What was he going to do?! Some stranger knows who he is! With shaking fingers, Barry picked up the card. Somehow he noticed the writing on the back.

_Don’t worry, we won’t tell a soul ;)_

Barry felt his heart rate calming. They won’t tell. It’s ok. Everything’s fine. His secret’s safe. Everything’s fine.

Wait.

We?

 _We_ won’t tell a soul?!

_WE?!_

AS IN MORE THAN ONE PERSON?!?

What. The. Hell.

The rest of the day passed in a blur, all other thoughts being blotted out by the realization that he didn’t have _**a**_ secret admirer, but secret admirer ** _s_**.

***

Friday morning Barry walked into the lab in a bit of a daze, still reeling from the revelation the day before. There was a gift box on his desk, this time a shiny patterned blue with a silver bow. Barry almost didn’t want to open it, but he figured it was best that he did.

Inside, cushioned among white tissue paper, were three paper weights.

A lightning bolt, a snowflake, and a flame.

Barry’s heart stopped.

No. It wasn’t possible. It wasn’t. Captain Cold and Heatwave couldn’t be his secret admirers.

Although… Cold did know who he was…and he probably told Heatwave…and he definitely had the organizational skills needed to pull off something like arranging a dozen different delivery companies to deliver one day after the other…

But no. Definitely not. Captain Cold and Heatwave hated his guts. Right?

But…he did get that box of honey dust the morning after Captain Cold called him honey…

Barry noticed the card nestled in the side of the box. Reaching for it, he read the inscription:

_14 west 47th Street. 7pm. -Len and Mick_

Oh God.

He had a date with Captain Cold and Heatwave. Len and Mick.

Oh God.

Captain Cold and Heatwave- Len and Mick- were his secret admirers.

Oh God.

 

At lunch, Barry once again went to STAR Labs.

“WHAT?!” Was Caitlin and Cisco’s simultaneous reaction to the news that Barry’s secret admirers were Leonard Snart and Mick Rory.

“Dude…what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Barry moaned, falling into a chair, hands over his face as if they could protect him from the situation.

“Well you better think of something!” Cisco said.

“Guhhh,” Barry groaned.

“Cait?”

Caitlin looked thoughtful. “You should go.”

“What?!” Cisco and Barry asked, shocked.

“You should go.” Caitlin repeated. “At least make sure they won’t say anything if you turn them down. It’s the smart thing to do.”

“Well…but…I…”

Cisco slowly nodded, “yeah, you definitely need to go. Just to make sure.”

“I…I…GAHH!”

 

When Barry got back to the station, he immediately sought out Joe. Thankfully, Julian was still out for lunch. Barry explained everything to Joe. When he was done, he sat back, watching Joe take everything in.

“Well,” He finally said. “I think Caitlin’s right. You have to go. Just be careful, Bear. Those two are killers, but they know your identity. You need to make sure they don’t tell anyone else.”

Barry sighed. “Yeah, I figured you’d say that…”

Barry took the afternoon off, claiming that he had food poisoning from lunch.

He ran to Star City.

 

He blew into the Arrow Cave like a tornado, sending papers flying.

“Guys, I need advice.” He addressed Felicity, Diggle, and Oliver.

“Uhh…”

“Wha…”

“What happened?” You could always count on Oliver keeping a level head in the face of the unexpected.

Barry explained the whole secret admirer thing, starting back at the beginning with the gardenias, and ending with the paperweights and the accompanying invitation to dinner.

“Wow.” Felicity said.

“Seconded.” Diggle added.

“You need to go, Barry. You have to make sure they don’t tell anyone else who you are.”

“Barry,” Felicity rolled forward, placing her hand on his. “Do you… _want_ to go on a date with them?”

“What? No. Of course not. No. No way. No.”

“Hmm,” Felicity hummed and sat back.

“Just don’t do anything stupid Barry. We’ll handle things as they come. You have to go though.” Oliver reiterated.

Barry sighed. “Yeah, I guess…”

“It’s 5:30. Don’t you need to get back to Central?” Diggle suddenly spoke up.

“Yeah…”

“Go. It’ll be fine.” Oliver assured him.

Barry took one last deep breath before he was off.

 

Since then he’d showered, gone through every item in his wardrobe, run around the city four times, gone through his wardrobe again, and fussed over his hair.

At 6:58, Barry gathered all his nerve, and flashed himself to the address he’d been given.

“Barry, right on time,” Cold- _Len-_ answered the door.

Barry smiled nervously as he was lead into a homey looking living room.

“Relax,” Len implored. “Sit,” he gestured to the couch.

Barry sat obediently.

Just then Heatwave- _Mick-_ emerged from the kitchen.

“Barry,” he said, “good to see you could make it. ‘Course I didn’t have any doubts, Lenny said you were free tonight.” Mick plopped down on the couch next to Barry with a smile.

Barry flinched slightly.

“Calm down, Barry. We aren’t going to hurt you.”

“I know.” Barry took a deep breath. “Why did you do it? Why keep who you are a secret?”

“Would you have said yes if we had just come right out?”

“…probably not.”

“So why’d you say yes now, doll?” Mick asked gently.

“I guess…you were just so thoughtful in your gifts…and they always made me smile…and I just…”

“You couldn’t resist,” Len finished for him.

“Yeah,” Barry let out a shaky laugh. “I guess I couldn’t.”

“C’mon doll, dinner’s ready. We got enough food to feed an army.”

“Or at least enough for one speedster,” Len joked, taking Barry by the hand, pulling him up and leading him to the dining room where there were three places set at a table laden with food.

Dinner passed with surprising ease. Len and Mick were smart, funny, and interesting. They didn’t complain about him going into detail about nerdy things, and often joined in on his geekery. It was nice.

When the food was cleared away and there was nothing left but wine and water on the table, Len turned serious.

“Barry, no matter how this turns out, we would never tell anyone your secret. You need to know that.”

“I do.” Barry responded. “You guys are men of your word.”

“And we always will be.” Mick rumbled.

“But if you want to do this, you also need to know that we aren’t just going to stop being criminals.”

“I wouldn’t want you to,” Barry smiled at them.“Captain Cold and Heatwave are a part of who you guys are. I wouldn’t ask you to change for anything. As long as you stick to our agreement and try to keep collateral damage to a minimum, I don’t think it will be a problem. Well, for me, at any rate…”

“Yeah, something tells me those goody-two-shoes friends of yours might have a few objections.” Mick smiled as he spoke.

“Oh, most definitely.” Barry responded with a grin. “But who I date is my business, not theirs.”

“So, we’re doing this then? You want a relationship with us?” Len asked.

“Absolutely.”


End file.
